DCTI School Council, in collaboration with the school administration, teachers, support staff and student council, will promote engagement of parents and guardians with the aim of ensuring that students receive the best possible education in a welcoming and safe environment.

3. Purpose and Objectives

Promote parent/guardian engagement

Facilitate communication between school administration, staff and parent /guardians

Support school initiatives

To provide a parental voice in the life of the school

Facilitate parent/guardian participation in school and community committees

Contribute to school administration succession

4. Membership

4.1Parent/Guardian members–at-large

Must be the parent or guardian of a student currently attending DCTI

There is no maximum number of member-at-large parent/guardian members on the School Council

Parent/guardian members must form the majority of members on the Council

A parent/guardian member cannot be employed at the school

Parent/guardian members will:

Support the mission of the School Council

Share their experiences and thoughts and participate actively in discussions at School Council

Participate in sub committees and actively assist in meeting the aims of the School Council

Maintain a school wide perspective on issues and seek to achieve consensus

Observe the Council’s Constitution and associated Code of Conduct

4.2Student representative members

There will be at least one student representative and no more than two student representatives elected or appointed by the Student Council

4.3Administration members

The Principal (or in their absence, the Vice Principal) will be an ex-officio and non-voting member of the Council

The Principal will:

Distribute board information to the Council

Acts as a resource to the Council on Board policies and School policies and practices

Respond to information requests from the Council

Respond to recommendations of the Council

Table issues for consideration by the Council

Support, promote and encourage Council activities

Observe Council’s Constitution and associated Code of Conduct

4.4School staff members

There will be one teaching representative elected to the School Council by the teaching staff within the school

There will be one non-teaching representative elected to the School Council by the non-teaching staff within the school

The staff representatives will:

Participate in discussions at the Council

Solicit input from staff to share with the Council

Communicate back to staff regarding the activities of the Council

Observe the Council’s Code of Conduct and established bylaws

4.5 Community members

The Council may appoint one or two Community representatives

The Community representative cannot be employed by the school

If the Community representative is employed by the School Board, they must inform the Council prior to appointment

5. Code of Conduct

All members of the School Council shall:

Treat all members of the school community with respect and dignity

Contribute to an open and welcoming environment on the Council

Contribute their thoughts and opinions in a positive way

Participate fully in the meeting, putting cell phones on vibrate and leaving the meeting to take incoming or make outgoing calls

Allow others to share their opinions and viewpoints without interrupting

Consider the interests of all students and limit discussions at Council to issues that affect all students/the entire school

Acknowledge the democratic principles and accept the decisions of the Council

Be guided by the Council’s mission statement and by-laws

Declare a conflict of interest when one arises

Support conflict resolution processes when required

6. Executive Officers

The DCTI School Council Executive will consist of

Chair

Vice-Chair

Secretary (alternately someone may act as Secretary/Treasurer)

Treasurer (alternately someone may act as Secretary/Treasurer)

Communications

Or alternatively

Two Co-chairs

Secretary (alternately someone may act as Secretary/Treasurer)

Treasurer (alternately someone may act as Secretary/Treasurer)

Communications

Executive positions may be filled only by parent/guardian members as described in 4.1

6.1 Role of the Executive

The role of the executive positions will be as follows:

Chair

Arrange in collaboration with the school administration for a minimum of 4 meetings annually

Prepare meeting agendas in consultation with the Executive and the Principal

Chair the Council meetings

Communicate regularly with the Principal, Council members and the school community

Correspond and Communicate with the Principal, the Superintendent and the Trustee on behalf of the Council

Facilitate the resolution of conflicts

In circumstances where there are two co-chairs the duties described above will apply to both

Vice-Chair

Act on behalf of the Chair when the chair is unavailable

Secretary

Record minutes of the meetings and ensure that minutes are circulated to the school community

Act as the point of authority on all bylaws affecting the council, especially those affecting membership and elections

Maintenance of the School Council binder

Monitor attendance and qualification for membership

Treasurer

Track the funds available to the School Council through the school budget and any grants that may be made available to the Council the School Council account and report out on same to the School Council on a monthly basis

In collaboration with the Chair submit requests for funding/grants and put forward motions seeking Council approval for expenditures

Responsible for reporting on any funding or grants received by the council

Responsible wherever necessary for annual financial reports

Communications

Maintain the School Council electronic mailing list

Distribute information to the School Council mailing list as requested by the Council, the Executive and the Principal

Maintain the School Council web site including posting of agendas and approved minutes on same

Create and maintain social networking sites

Ensure minutes are posted to the website and circulated in a timely fashion

7. Election of School Council Members

At the last School Council meeting prior to the last day of classes each year, the Council shall appoint a Parent Representative to work with the Principal on the elections for the following fall (September/October)

Any Danforth parent/guardian is eligible to be appointed the Parent
Representative, provided they do not stand for election to the School Council Executive in the same election

In August/September at the start of each school year, the Principal will send out to all parents/guardians a notice of the date, time and location of the School Council elections

The notice will be sent at least 14 days prior to the election

The notice will include a form for parents/guardians to self-nominate to become a member-at-large of the School Council and to indicate if they are also interested in standing for election for the School Council Executive

All self-nominated parents/guardians are automatically acclaimed as members-at-large of the School Council

The Principal and the Parent Representative will review the forms received. The Parent Representative will contact the self-nominated parents/guardians to confirm their eligibility, welcome them, confirm their interest in being a member of the School Council, and provide them with information on the first School Council meeting, and School Council roles, expectations and procedures.

At the first meeting of the School Council in the school year, the Council will recap the submissions and confirm the acclamation of all the self-nominated members-at large

Where only one individual has self-nominated for an Executive position, that individual will be acclaimed

Where more than one individual has self-nominated for a Executive position, an election will be held for that position

The election of Executive positions will be done by ballot

8. Terms of Membership

The terms of membership for the member-at-large and the Executive positions will be from the date of election at the first Council meeting of the school year (or, from the date of their appointment) until the date of the elections at the first School Council meeting of the subsequent school year

In the event that a member fails to attend two consecutive meetings of the School Council without notification to the Secretary or another member of the Executive, the Chair or Vice-Chair will attempt to contact the member to determine if they wish to continue to serve on the School Council or if they wish to resign.

Should an Executive vacancy occur prior to March 1 during the term of membership, the Executive will call for self-nominations from the non-Executive members-at-large to fill the position. If more than one candidate self-nominates, then an election will be held at the next School Council meeting. If no self-nominations are received from the members-at-large, the Executive will put out a call to the general parent/guardian population for self-nominations, and an election, if needed, will be held at the next School Council meeting.

Should an Executive vacancy occur on March 1 or thereafter during the term of membership, the School Council, by a vote of the members may elect to leave a position vacant until the following school year, provided that parent/guardian members continue to form the majority of the Council

Should the parent/guardian members cease to form a majority of the Council, the Executive will put out a call to the general parent/guardian population for self-nominations to become members-at-large

9. Subcommittees

The School Council will establish sub-committees from time to time as may be required to conduct more detailed or in-depth work than is possible during Council meetings

10. Meetings

At the last meeting of school year a tentative timetable will be created for the proposed meeting dates and times for the following year

A minimum of 4 meetings will be held each school year evenly disbursed throughout the school year

The first School Council meeting will be held within the first 30 days of the school year and the new School Council will be elected during this meeting.

Executive Committee meetings will be held as required

10.1 Quorum

Quorum is achieved for a full School Council meeting provided:

One member of the Executive is present and

The Principal (or Principal’s designate) is present and

More than 50% of members present are parents/guardians members of School Council

10.2 Decision making

Where possible decisions will be made by consensus. Consensus is a collective opinion of general agreement by all council members.

Where consensus cannot be reached/is not clear a vote will be held

A vote can be made with a show of hands, unless a request is made for secret ballot, with 50% of the voting members present + 1 being considered a passing vote

10.3 Conflict of Interest

Any time the School Council does business with the potential for monetary gain/loss with any person, agency, or company, and a member of the School Council has a vested interest in any way with that particular person, agency, or company, that member shall declare a conflict of interest and shall not discuss or vote on any such resolution relating to the matter.

Any declaration of conflict of interest will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting

10.4 Failure to follow bylaws and Code of Conduct/Conflict Resolution

It is part of the role of the Chair to ensure that the Code of Conduct for the council is adhered to by all members of the council

When a member does not follow the bylaws and Code of Conduct during the course of a meeting the Chair will make a request to the member that they comply with the Code of Conduct

If a member is unable to comply with the Code of Conduct the Chair will request that they leave the meeting

If a member is unable to comply and will not leave the meeting, the Chair will adjourn the meeting.

The Chair can request that the disputing members of School Council voluntarily participate in a special private meeting, the purpose of which will be to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute.

If all attempts at resolving the conflict are exhausted without success, the Chair shall request the intervention of the superintendent or other senior administrator to facilitate a resolution to the conflict.

10.5 Reporting

On an annual basis the Council will submit a report to the Principal and the School Board on:

The Council Activities and achievements for the previous year

List of council members and positions held

Dates of the previous year’s meetings

Details of financial transactions

11. Bylaw Amendments

Any bylaw can be amended as follows:

Any parent/guardian member of the School Council can propose an amendment to the bylaws.

A minimum of 14 days notice must be given to all School Council members prior to any School Council meeting where an amendment to the bylaws will be proposed. The notice must include a copy of the existing bylaw and a copy of the proposed amended bylaw.

All School Council members must be made aware of this proposed amendment; at minimum, a notice will be posted on the School Council Website, published in the school newsletter and an email sent directly to all individual School Council members.

A majority vote of the School Council members (non-voting members excepted) in attendance at the meeting, with 50% of the voting members present + 1 being considered a majority vote, is required to pass the amended bylaw.